International Shia News Agency

The History of the Islamic Calandar in the Light of the Hijra

SHAFAQNA-

The period under discussion (95-148 A.H /712-765 A.D.) began and ended in the

times of the fifth and sixth Imams. The persecutions of the Shi’is continued

unabated from Mu’awiya’s time to almost the very last days of the Umayyads,

although this dynasty in its latter days was considerably weakened by internal

strife. Zayd, the grandson of Husayn, rose up to establish the rule of religion

and justice in 122/740, but he was felled by an arrow in his forehead, and his

army of 15,000 fled. His body was exhumed by order of the Umayyad caliph, Hisham,

was mutilated, beheaded and crucified in Kufa and left there for years on the

cross.

The period under discussion (95-148 A.H /712-765 A.D.) began and ended in the

times of the fifth and sixth Imams. The persecutions of the Shi’is continued

unabated from Mu’awiya’s time to almost the very last days of the Umayyads,

although this dynasty in its latter days was considerably weakened by internal

strife. Zayd, the grandson of Husayn, rose up to establish the rule of religion

and justice in 122/740, but he was felled by an arrow in his forehead, and his

army of 15,000 fled. His body was exhumed by order of the Umayyad caliph, Hisham,

was mutilated, beheaded and crucified in Kufa and left there for years on the

cross. Then Hisham’s successor, al-Walid, ordered the body to be burned, and the

ashes scattered on the banks of the Euphrates. Zayd’s son, Yahya, rose up in

Khorasan; coincidently he also was killed by an arrow which pierced his brain.

He was beheaded; the head was sent to al-Walid and the body crucified. This was

in 125/743. The body remained on the cross till Abu Muslim al-Khurasani rose in

Khorasan and the call rose up against the Umayyads “to please the progeny of

Muhammad”, and Umayyad rule ended.

But the persecution in itself was a major cause of the spread of the persecuted

Shi’a faith. Muhammad Jawad al-Mughniya writes: “The Shi’is offered arguments from the Qur’an and the traditions of the Prophet and advanced intellectual reasons to the effect that the love of the Prophet’s family-members was obligatory, and that it was essential to follow them and to hold fast to their rope; that it was obligatory to keep aloof from their enemies. They wrote many books about their superiority and virtues. But none of these books or arguments proved as effective in strengthening and spreading the Shi’a faith as did the policy of Mu’awiya and his Umayyad successors. Surely the persecution carried out by the Umayyads was more effective than a thousand and one books or than a thousand and one proofs in proving the status of ‘Ali and confirming his divine right to the Caliphate. [1] “’ Dr. Taha Husain says: “So far as propagating beliefs and attracting people to follow them is concerned, nothing is more effective than persecution. It creates sympathy for those who undergo suffering, and are engulfed by tragedies, and who are subjected to pressure by the ruler. To the same degree it creates revulsion against this ruler who resorts to injustice, carries his tyrannies to the furthest limit and overburdens the population with hardships. For this reason, the Shi’ a cause became great during the last decade of Mu’awiya’s reign, and their call spread -and what a spread it was-in the eastern Islamic countries and southern Arabia. And by the time Mu’awiya had died, many people, and especially the general public in Iraq, believed that hate of Umayyads and love of the Ahl al Bayt was their religion.’ [2] Wellhausen writes: “All the people of Iraq during Mu’awiya’s reign, and especially the Kufites were Shi’i and this was not only among individuals but among whole tribes and chiefs of the tribes.” [3]

Arabia, Iraq and Khorasan, together with the Yemen and Bahrain were in turmoil;

hatred of the Umayyads became an established factor of the body politic, and to

the same degree people gravitated towards the descendants of ‘Ali. Several

factors led to this result:

1. They were the Ahl al-Bayt; Allah had chosen that house for His Prophethood;

it was appropriate that the people should choose them for their guidance.

2. They were the first to rise against the Umayyads and their tyrannies; they

were the first to speak for the oppressed masses and to sacrifice their lives

for this cause.

3. Not only the Ahl al-Bayt, but even their Shi’is, right from the beginning of

Umayyad rule, worked openly and secretly against those tyrants; and they faced

all the consequences: massacres, banishments, imprisonments, crucifixions, and

all types of torture. [4]

Ibn al-Athir confirms that when the ‘Abbasids joined this campaign towards the

end, “they were using the slogan that they wanted to avenge the murders of

Husayn, Zayd and Yahya.” [5]

Wellhausen writes: “The ‘Abbasids tried their utmost to keep secret from the

people their intention that they wanted to replace the descendants of Fatima;

instead, they pretended that they were doing whatever they were doing for the

sake of the Fatimids. They rose in Khorasan and other places claiming that they

wanted to avenge the martyrs of the children of Fatima.” [6]

“The ‘Abbasids rose in the name of the ‘Alawites, and on the shoulders of their

Shi’is. (After the success) they changed their attitude towards them, and their

oppression of the Shi’is increased in magnitude and intensity.” [7]

Muhammad Ahmad al-Buraq says: “The call really was for the ‘Alawites, because

the Khurasanis were attached to the descendants of ‘Ali, not to the descendants

of Abbas. That is why as Saffah and his successors always kept their eyes open

and tried to prevent Shi’ism from spreading further in Khorasan

They encouraged the poets to praise them (i.e., the ‘Abbasids) and gave them

rewards, and those poets used to cast aspersions against the descendants of

‘Ali.” [8]

“This led the ‘Abbasid ‘caliphs’ to renounce the faith of Ahl al-Bayt (which

they had followed up to the beginning of their period of rule) and accept

Sunnism, because they were afraid that if Shi’ism spread, the rule would go to

the ‘Alawites. Thus the ‘Abbasids faithfully followed the Umayyads in policy,

belief and practice.” [9]

Be that as it may, the Umayyads in their last days and the ‘Abbasids in their

first days could not give much attention to the Shi’ is. Thus the fifth Imam

started teaching his faith in Madina openly. People came to him from far and

wide to learn from him explanations of the Qur’an, the traditions, rules of the

sharia, theology, etc. It was not a formal madrasa (university, school); yet,

for want of a better word, we shall call it the madrasa of the Imam. The fifth

Imam Muhammad Al-Baqir (95-114/712-732) died before the madrasa had reached its

point of perfection, but his son, the sixth Imam, Ja’far As-Sadiq developed it

to such an extent that the number of his disciples exceeded four thousand. This

continued up to 132/750 when the ‘Abbasids came to power Although as-Saffah, the

first ‘Abbasid caliph, ruled for only four years, and that time was mostly taken

up in consolidating his power, he found time to call the Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq to

his capital, Hira, where he was held incommunicado. One man who wanted to see

him had to disguise himself as a hawker of cucumber to reach the Imam.’ [10] But

later he came back to Madina.

Then came al-Mansur (13S158/754-775) whose only aim in life, it seems, was to

kill every descendant of ‘Ali. The Shi’is in general, and the ‘Alawites in

particular, were persecuted more brutally than they were during the reign of the

Umayyads. He put even more hindrance in the way of the Imam. “He forbade the

people to go to the Imam, and forbade the Imam to sit (outside) to receive the

people, and put the utmost pressure on him. So much so that if a problem

appeared in a Shi’is life concerning, for example, marriage, divorce or some

other matter, and he had no knowledge of the rule of the sharia about it, he

could not reach the Imam, and, as a result, the man and the wife had to

separate. ” [11]

After a long period, al-Mansur allowed the Imam to benefit the people with his

divine knowledge, [12] but there were always spies to report his words and

answers. Therefore, the Imam had to be cautious in his discourses. In short, the

period of freedom had gone, so far as the Shi’is were concerned.

Anyhow, this period coincided with the movement of free thinking which had

started in the Muslim world. Arabs came in contact with the older civilizations

of Iran, Syria and Egypt, and became acquainted with Zoroastrian and Manichean

beliefs and Greek philosophy. Some books had already been translated from Greek

and other languages. Many scholars adopted strange beliefs and foreign ideas and

spread them among the common people. One finds a bewildering plethora of new

sects mushrooming. Atheism was openly advocated even in the great mosque of the

Ka’ba; the Murji’ites, by saying that faith is not affected by deeds, supported

the tyrannies of the rulers; the “exaggerators” (ghulat) claimed divinity for

this or that human being (even the Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq was believed to be God

by Abul Khattab). The Kharijites declared that all Muslims who were opposed to

them were infidels; The sufis adopted some ideas from Christian monks and Hindu

ascetics, and led people away from Islamic monotheism; the traditionalists

flooded the Muslim world with forged traditions. In short, there was a deluge of

anti- Islamic ideals and ideas which inundated true Islam. Amidst this all,

these two Imams guided to the truth.

These Imams and their faithful disciples were the first to see this danger, and

they were ready to fight it with their logical evidence. They defended the true

faith, repulsed its enemies, and raised the standards of the shari’a. They

launched an unremitting jihad (academic, of course) against the ghulat and

showed them in their true colours. They argued with the Muttazilites, the

Murji’ites, and the Kharijites in public and proved the weakness of their

standpoints. They exposed the sufis and refuted their arguments. They corrected

what was wrong in the theological ideas of many Muslim scholars, and showed them

where they had gone wrong in jurisprudence.’ [13]

As we have explained above, the major part of this work was done by the Imam Ja’

far as-Sadiq. As a result of his untiring defence of Islam, the Muslim world

came to see in him the only hope for the salvation of Islam. Eyes turned towards

him, thinkers accepted the Imam as their “great-teacher”; people used to come

into his presence with pen and paper ready, and his words were recorded on the

spot. Thousands of such notebooks were filled, and the words of the Imam Ja’far

as-Sadiq attained the same prestige as those of the Messenger of God. Not only

the Shi’is, Sunnis, Mu’tazilites and atheists, but also the Hindus and

Christians came to him and benefited from his discourses. The Sunni Imam, Malik

b. Anas, the founder of the Maliki school of law, said: “No eye ever saw, no ear

ever heard, and no heart ever imagined anyone superior to Ja’far b. Muhammad in

virtue, knowledge, worship and piety. [14]

Ibn Shahr ashub writes: “So much knowledge has been narrated from as- Sadiq that

has never been narrated from anyone else; and the scholars of traditions have

collected the names of his trustworthy narrators of various beliefs and views,

and they were four thousand men.” Abu Na’im writes in Hilyatu ‘l-Awliya: “Malik

b. Anas, Shutba b. Hajjaj, Sufyan at-Thawri, Ibn Jarih, ‘Abdullah b. ‘Amr, Rawh,

b. Qasim, Sufyan b. ‘Uyayna, Sulayman b. Bilal, Isma’il b. Ja’far, Hakim b.

Isma’il, ‘Abdu l-‘Aziz b. Mukhtar, Wuhayb b. Khalid, Ibrahim b. Tahman, among

others …, narrated from Ja’far as-Sadiq, peace be upon him.” [15] Quoting from

others, Ibn Shahr ‘ashub has added the names of the Sunni Imams Malik, ash-Shat

and Ahmad b. Hanbal, and al-Hasan b. as-Salih, Abu Ayyub as-Sajistani and ‘Umar

b. Dinar. [16]

Hasan b. Ziyad says that Imam Abu Hanifa (founder of the Hanafi school of Sunni

law) was asked about the most learned man he had seen. He replied: “Ja’far b.

Muhammad.” [17]

Nuh b. Darraj asked Ibn Abi Layla: “Would you leave (i.e. change) an opinion you

have expressed or a judgment you have delivered for any other person’s words?”

He said: “No. Except one man.” Nuh asked: “And who is he?” He said: “Ja’far b.

Muhammad.”’ [18]

The above is only a partial list of Sunni scholars and Imams who came to the

Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq and benefited from his teachings. Add to it the names of

the sufis, atheists, Hindus and Kharijites who flocked to his madrasa, and one

can appreciate what a treasure of knowledge was given to people by the Imam.

When others benefitted so much, how much more must have been gathered by the

Shi’is. One of his well-known disciples, Aban b. Taghlib, narrated from him

thirty thousand traditions. Hasan b. Ali al-Washsha’ said: “I found in the

mosque of Kufa nine hundred shaykhs, every one of them saying ‘Ja’far b.

Muhammad told me …’ ” [19]

In al-Munjid we find: “His (Ja’far as-Sadiq’s) madrasa was the continuation of

his father’s (al-Baqir’s) madrasa, and was extremely successful in spreading

Islamic culture; the number of its students in Madina was at least 4,000, and

they came from all Muslim countries. There was a large branch-school in Kufa.

One of the greatest achievements of as-Sadiq was his call to write and edit;

before that little writing was done. The number of the books written by his

students was at least four hundred by four hundred writers.” [20]

The Shaykh Muhammad Husayn al-Muzaffar writes: “The best days for the Shi’is

were the transition period, the last years of the Umayyads and the early years

of the’Abbasids … The Shi’is took advantage of this breathing space to drink

from the stream of the knowledge of the Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq; they traveled to

him to receive from him the commands of religion and its reality. His disciples

narrated from him in every branch of knowledge, as is seen in the Shi’is books.

His disciples were not only from the Shi’a community, but all the sects narrated

from him, as is clearly mentioned in the books of, hadith and rijal.

Ibn ‘ Uqdah, the Shaykh at-Tusi and the Muhaqqiq enumerated his narrators, and

the total came to four thousand.” [21]

This open teaching and unrestricted preaching increased the number of the Shi’is

in every region throughout the Muslim world. It is not possible to give a list

of well-known Shi’s scholars and missionaries of that time, as it would be too

lengthy. The teachings and explanations of the Imams removed the veils of

ambiguity from the Shi’i faith and showed its teachings in clear terms.

Theology, explanation of the Qur’an, morality, jurisprudence, in short every

branch of religious knowledge, was explained in a clear perspective. The faith

had not changed an iota, nor the Qur’anic explanations, nor the traditions; but

the discussions and arguments with the newly-appeared sects clarified many fine

points and gave Shi’i theology its distinct shape. Also, Shi’i fiqh (law) was so

developed at this time that people started calling it the Ja’fari school of law.

The Shaykh Mustafa ‘Abdur’ Razzaq of al-Azhar University says: “The eagerness to

codify law came to the Shi’is earlier than to other Muslims.” [22]

Some of the factors which helped in this development were:

1. The intellectual advancement of the Muslims;

2. The fortuitousness of the transitional period between the Umayyads and the

‘Abbasids;

3. The gatherings of thousands of eager disciples.

Such favourable factors never came together before or after this period, and

that is why other Imams could not do as much, although all of them possessed the

same divine knowledge.

That knowledge was not confined to religious subjects only, and we shall mention

in the next part of this article two examples of the contributions of this

madrasa to other branches of knowledge.

Part II

In part I we examined the prominence of the school of the Imam Ja’far as- Sadiq

in the religious sciences, and discussed the reasons for its pre-eminence. Now

we shall see how it also contributed to other branches of knowledge, those of

the natural sciences.

(a) Chemistry: Jabir b. Hayyan (the Geber of the Latins), who has been

called one of the ‘fathers of chemistry’ and ‘the most famous Arabic alchemist’

[23], was one of the students of the Imam Ja’far, as-Sadiq. The quantity of

Jabir’s output is quite staggering: besides his writings in chemistry, he wrote

1,300 treatises on mechanics, 500 on medicine, and 500 against Greek philosophy,

not to mention other subjects. The number of his books which have been printed

in Latin, French and German since the 17th century comes to thirty, if we count

his ‘500 booklets’ as one book. There are 36 known manuscripts of his works in

the British Museum, the Biblioteque Nationale in Paris and in other libraries in

Germany. Egypt, Iran and Turkey. The extent to which he is indebted to the Imam

Ja’far as-Sadiq in his research and teachings may be judged from the fact that

in many of his books we find: ‘My master and mawla. Ja’far. peace be upon him,

told me that …’, and in his book, ‘al Manfa’a’ he explicitly says: ‘I acquired

this knowledge from Ja’far b. Muhammad, the leader of the people in his time.’

[24]

George Sarton, referring to Jabir’s untranslated work, writes: ‘We find in them

remarkably sound views on methods of chemical research; a theory on the geologic

formation of metals; the so-called sulphur-mercury theory of metals …;

preparation of various substances (e.g., basic lead carbonate; arsenic; and

antimony from their sulphides). Jabir deals also with various applications,

e.g., refinement of metals, preparation of steel. dyeing of cloth and leather,

varnishes to waterproof cloth and protect iron, use of manganese dioxide in

glass making, use of iron pyrites for writing in gold, distillation of vinegar

to concentrate acetic acid. He observed the imponderability of mag- netic

force.’ [25] He also discovered that each metal and material had a basic weight;

he called this ‘the knowledge of weights, ‘ilm al-mawazin.’ [26] He was, in the

words of Sarton: ‘a very great personality, one of the greatest in mediaeval

science.’ [27]

Several of his writings have been translated by scholars such as M. Berthelot,

Octave Hodas, E. J. Holmyard, Ernst Darmstaedter and Max Mayerhoff. Berthelot

wrote in his ‘History of Chemistry’: ‘The name Jabir holds the same place in the

history of chemistry which the name of Aristotle holds in the history of logic.’

[28] Holmyard wrote: ‘Jabir was the student and friend of Ja’far as-Sadiq; and

he found in his incomparable Imam a supporter and helper, the trustworthy guide

and helmsman whose direction is always needed. And Jabir wanted to free

chemistry, through the direction of his teacher, from the myths of the ancients

which had held it in shackles since Alexandria; and he succeeded to a great

extent in this aim.’ [29]

(b) Anatomy: A Hindu physician attached to the court of al-Mansur once

asked the Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq if he wanted to learn something in this field

from him. The Imam said: ‘No. What I have is better than what you have.’ Then

began a very interesting discourse, in which the Imam asked the physician

questions like these: Why is the head covered with hair? Why are there lines and

wrinkles on the forehead? Why are the eyes shaped like almonds? Why has the nose

been placed between the eyes? Why are the hair and the nails without life

(sensation)? These questions moved from the head downwards, till he ended up by

asking: Why do the knees fold backwards, and why is the foot hollow on one side?

To all these questions, the physician had only one reply: ‘I do not know.’ The

Imam said: ‘But I do know.’ Then he explained all the questions, showing the

wisdom and power of the Creator. The hair is created over the head so that oil

may reach inside, and heat may go out through it, and so that it may protect the

head from heat and cold. There are lines and wrinkles on the forehead so that

sweat from the head does not reach the eyes. giving the person a chance to wipe

it away. The eyes are almond-shaped so as to make it easy to put medicine inside

them and remove dirt from them. Had they been square or round, both would have

been difficult. The nose is put between the eyes as it helps to divide the light

equally towards both eyes. The hair and nails lack sensation to make it easier

to cut and trim them. If there were life in them it would have hurt a person to

cut them. The knees fold backwards because human beings walk forward, and the

foot is hollow to make movement easier.’ The physician became a convert to

Islam. [30]

A booklet which was dictated by the Imam Ja’far as-Sadiq in four sessions to his

disciple Mufaddal b. ‘Umar was widely narrated, and has been widely studied and

copied to the present day; al-Majlisi copied the whole book into the second

volume of his ‘Bihar al Anwar’. [31] In this book, the Imam explained the

wonders of creation, showing at every stage how all of it is inter related and

could not have come into being by chance. In the first session, he explained the

creation of man, his organs of perception, the power of his mind, his gradual

development. and all the functions of body and mind. In the second session. he

explained the animal world and its common features; then he divided animals into

groups: carnivorous and herbivorous animals; birds and reptiles; and so forth,

explaining every group’s special characteristics. In the process of doing this

he described the donkey. the dog, the elephant, the giraffe, the monkey,

domestic mammals, reindeer, the fox, the dolphin, the pythom the ant, the

spider, the chicken, the peacock the pheasant, the flamingo, the sparrow, the

owl, the bat, the bee, the locust and fish. The third session was devoted to

geography. geology. astronomy (not astrology) and other related subjects, such

as minerals, trees and medicine. In the last session the Imam dealt with the

most common objection made by atheists: If there is a Creator, then why is there

so much suffering in the world? The Imam answered this with the same attention

to detail as he had shown in the previous sessions, with systematic arguments.

This book is a treasure of knowledge, written to refute the ideas of atheists.

Everywhere the Imam draws attention to the wisdom and power of the Creator. Two

examples will be given here at random. ‘Allah created eyesight to perceive

colours; had there been colour but no eye to see it, there would have been no

use for colour. And He created hearing to perceive sounds: had there been sounds

but no ear to hear them, there would have been no reason to have them. The same

is true for all kinds of perception. and the same is true in the opposite sense:

had there been eyesight but no colour to see, eyesight would have been useless;

and if there had been ears, but no sounds to hear, ears would also have been

useless. Now, see how Allah has gauged everything to fit with everything else.

For every organ of perception he made something for it to perceive, and for

every sensory phenomenon something to perceive it. Not only that. but He created

the medium between the organs of perception and their objects, without which

perception could not take place; for example, light and air: if there were no

light eyesight could not perceive colour; and if there were no air to carry

sounds to the ear, it could not hear them. Can someone with a sound mind who

observes all these interconnected phenomena fail to admit that they could not

exist without the Will and Measuring of a Merciful, All-Knowing Creator?’ [32]

At one point Mufaddal said: ‘O My Master! Some people think that all this was

made by nature ‘ The Imam dictated: ‘Ask them about this nature. Is it a thing

which has the knowledge and power for such work? Or is it without knowledge and

power? If they say that it has knowledge and power, then why should they

disbelieve in a Creator, because these [i.e., knowledge and power] are His

attributes. And if they think that nature does it without knowledge and will,

and yet there is so much wisdom and perfection in these works, they must admit

that it could come only from a Wise Creator. [The fact is that] nature is only

[a name for] the system in creation which operates as He has made it operate.’

[33]

There is an interesting aside in the fourth day’s session, where the Imam said:

‘The name of the universe in Greek is qusmus (kosmos), and it means ‘adornment’.

This name was given to it by their philosophers and wise men. Could they have

named it so except because of the order and system which they found there? They

were not content to call it a system; they called it an ‘adornment’ to show that

the order and system found therein has the highest degree of beauty and

splendour.’ [34]

Notes:

[1] Muhammad Jawad al Mughniya, ash Shia wal Hakimun, al Maktab al Ahliya,

Beirut, 1st edition 1961, p. 75

[2] Taha Husain, Ali wa Banuh as quoted in ash Shia, p. 80

[3] J. Wellhausen, al Khawarij wa shia (trans into Arabic of his The Kharijites

and the Shi’ites ed. 1985 p. 499) quoted by M. J. al Mughniya in his ash Shia

wat Tashayyu, Maktaba al Madrasa wa Dar al Kitab al Libnani, Beirut, note 8 p.

68

[4] M. J al Mughniya, as shia wat Tashayyu, pp. 134-5

[5] Ibn al Athir, al Kamil fi t Tarikh, Beirut, 1975, vol. 4 pp 330-2

[6] J. Wellhausen, Tarikh ad Dawlati l Arabiya (trans into Arabic of his History

of the Arabs), p. 489, quoted by M. J. al Mughniya is his ash Shia wa l Hakimun,

p. 135

[7] M. J. al Mughniya, op cit pp 135-6

[8] Muhammad Ahmad al Buraq, Abu l Abbas as Saffah, as quoted in as Shia wal

Hakimun, p. 134

[9] M. J. al Mughniya, op cit p. 139

[10] Muhammad Baqir al Majlisi, Bihar al Anwar, new edition, Tehran, 1385 A.H,

vol. 47, p. 171 quoting Qutb al Din ar Rawandi, al Kharaij wa l Jaraih, p. 234

[11] Ibn Shahr ashub, Manaqib, vol. 4 al Matba al Alimiya, Qum, p. 238

[12] ibid, many similar reports are given in Fadl b. Hasan at Tabarsi, al

Ihtijaj, and al Majlisi, op cit

[13] ibid

[14] Ibn Hajar al Asqalani, Tadhib al Tadhib, Hyderabad, 1325 A.H, vol. 2, p.

104

[15] Ibn Shahr ashub, Manaqab, vol. 4 p 247-8

[16] Ibn Shahr ashub, op cit, p. 248

[17] ibid, p. 254

[18] ibid, p. 249

[19] Muhsin al Amin, Ayan ash Shia, vol. 4 Part II, Mathah al Imaf, Ebirut, ed.

1380/1920

[20] Al Munjid fi l Alam, Beirut (21st ed.) 1973

[21] Muhammad Husayn al Muzaffar, Tarikh ash Shia, Dar az Zahra, Beirut, 3rd

edition 1402/1982 pp. 53, 55

[22] M. Abdur Razzaq, Tahmid li Tarikh al Falsafat al Islamiy, Cairo, 1959, p.

202

[23] G. Sarton. Introduction to the History of Science, vol. 1. Baltimore. 1927.

p. 532.

[24] ‘Abdullah Nima. Falasifat ash Shi’a, Beirut, 1966. p. 196. This book is an

excellent source for those who wish to examine the contribution of Shiah

scholars to philosophy and science. The author discusses Jabirs life and

contribution between pp. 184 and 231.

[25] G. Sarton. op. cit., p. 532. For the Imam Ja’far as Sadiq. see, ibid.. p.

508.

[26] Quoted by Abdullah Ni’ma. op. cit., pp. 61. 187.

[27] G. Sarton. op. cit., p. 532.

[28] Quoted by ‘Abdullah Ni’ma. op. cit., p. 187.

[29] Quoted by ‘Abdullah Niima. ibid., pp. 193-4.

[30] ash-Shaykh as-Saduq, Ilal ash shari’a, n.p., 1311. p. 44.

[31] al Majlisi, Bihar al Anwar. new ed.. vol. 111, pp. 57-151.

[32] ibid.,p.69.

[33] ibid., p. 67. 34. ibid., p. 146.

Leave a Comment